With Israel’s withdrawal from the unethical UN organization going into effect on 1/1/19, the Jewish State’s Ambassador explained, “UNESCO is a body that continues to rewrite history, among other things, by attempts to erase the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.” 

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

Israel quit UNESCO because the organization was corrupted by enemies of the Jewish state, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN said Danny Danon said on Tuesday.

He spoke in response to the withdrawal of Israel and the United States from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Monday night.

Outgoing UN Envoys, Amb. Danny Danon and US Ambassador Nikki Haley – Photo- U.S. Mission to the UN

Both countries had announced that they would leave UNESCO in October 2017.

Their withdrawal went into effect at the start of 2019.

“UNESCO is a body that continues to rewrite history, among other things, by attempts to erase the Jewish connection to Jerusalem,” Danon said.

“Israel will not be a member of an organization dedicated to acting against it and which is a tool manipulated by Israel’s enemies,” Danon said.

Israel has been a member state of UNESCO since 1949. In the last 17 years, the global cultural body has registered nine sites within the country on its World Heritage List.

But it’s pro-Palestinian stances have created increasing friction with both the US and Israel.

In 2011, both countries halted payment of their annual fees after UNESCO became the first UN body to recognize Palestine as a state in 2011. Israel now owes UNESCO over $8.5 million and the US’s debt has reached upwards of $617 million.

Both countries lost voting rights in the organization in 2013 over their failure to pay dues, but maintained all other participation rights.

The situation intensified in 2016 after the Palestinian Authority and the Arab states pushed forward resolutions at UNESCO’s Executive Board that ignored Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, describing the most holy sites in Judaism solely by their Muslim names of al-Haram al-Sharif and the Buraq Plaza. They also passed texts disavowing Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.

View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Danny-Danon-says-UNESCO-corrupted-by-enemies-of-the-Jewish-state-576009